Dot matrix printers have been used in a wide variety of applications and, in particular, have been used to provide a printed output from a computer. Dot matrix printers typically fall into two basic types, a high speed type and a high quality type. The high speed type usually prints characters using a seven high by five wide matrix of dots and the individual dots forming each character are readily resolvable by the naked eye of the observer. This type of printer tends to be used to print information very quickly in draft form. The high quality type produces a high quality font in which the individual dots are not resolvable with the naked eye and the output appears substantially indistiguishable from a typewritten or printed document. Typically such a print head uses an eighteen high by thirty-six wide matrix of dots.
For both of these disparate uses the basic limitation on the printing speed is the repetition rate at which each of the print wires of the print head is driven forwards to urge an inked ribbon into contact with paper to be printed. Many attempts have been made to increase this repetition rate but, at present, the maximum repetition rate that is currently obtainable is around 1500 Hz with a printing needle stroke of around 0.25 mm.